Welcome to Long Field Spencer Academy. We became an Academy on 1st September 2012. Since that time, we have taken every opportunity to keep the Academy under review, joining Spencer Academy Trust (SAT), on 1st May 2015. The benefits of our links with SAT are mutually advantageous for all parties; Governors, senior leaders and staff are linked with other secondary schools and primaries for sharing learning, school improvements and new government directives. Our students visit and are proud to be linked with other secondary schools.
What OFSTED said about the Governance of the school – February 2018
- “Members of the school’s local governing body are professional, skilled and dedicated to the roles they fulfil. They know what the school does well and where improvements are still required. Senior leaders provide the governing body with a wide range of information about the school’s effectiveness. Governors use this information well to ask pertinent questions about pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching.”
- “The governing body and the academy trust play a valuable role in the school’s success. They provide senior leaders with good support and an appropriate level of challenge.
Message from the Chair of Governors
We welcome in-year applications from parents interested in visiting the school to find out if their child might benefit from studying at Long Field. We have welcomed some ‘new’ additions to our school community this year who will also be pleased to see you. We think you will be pleasantly surprised and inspired as are our students.
I would draw your attention to the feedback section on our website which you can access by clicking here. Alternatively, please contact me through the school on 01664 561234 or chairofgovernors@longfieldspencer.com
I look forward to meeting many of the parents, students and friends of Long Field Spencer Academy during this next academic year.
Debi Williamson
Chair of Governors
Local Governing Body
The Long Field Spencer Academy Governors aim to provide, together with our community, a centre of excellence with quality learning and teaching provision for all our pupils. There is a scheme of delegation between the Trust and the school which outlines our constitution and level of delegated functions. Together We Succeed.
- Debi Williamson – Chair of Governors (Appointed 1 April 2017)
- Dean Williams – Parent Governor (Appointed September 2019)
- Keith Skinner – Parent Governor (Appointed 1 September 2017)
- Christopher Haggett – Principal (Appointed 1 June 2015)
- Simon Fretwell – Staff Governor (Appointed 4 November 2015)
- Ed Jones – Community Governor (Appointed 1 September 2017)
- Fiona Hubbard – Clerk (Appointed September 2019)
- Lindsay Langford – Community Governor (Appointed September 2019)
- Liz Mitchell-Utting – Parent Governor (Appointed 1 January 2023)
- Liz Raine – Parent Governor (Appointed 1 January 2023)
Governors envisage this being carried out through:
- Outstanding learning delivered through outstanding teaching.
- Constantly challenging all aspects of school life to ensure best practice is always prevalent.
- Engaging parents in their child’s education
- Ensuring that statutory responsibilities are enacted by agreeing policy and monitoring its implementation.
- Ensuring financial responsibilities are adhered to and using external audit to monitor this responsibility.
There is a scheme of delegation between the Trust and the school which outlines our constitution and level of delegated functions. This can be found in the documents section below.
Complaints
This should go the Clerk of Governors this is Fiona Hubbard email fhubbard@longfield.leics.sch.uk
When do we meet?
The Full Governing Body meets twice during the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms.
What do we actually do?
During each academic year, Governors will conduct monitoring visits to see how the overall performance of the school is doing. During these visits, Governors get the chance to speak to staff and students and see the school in action. Our Governors are also invited to attend a range of school celebration events, other productions and community events.
The Department for Education’s core functions for a governing body are:
The DfE also launched in January 2017: ‘A Competency Framework for Governance’. This document outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for effective governance, but in brief can be shown as:
- Provide a strategic view of the school by establishing a vision and setting the purpose and aims of the school within an agreed policy framework.
- Appoint and conduct the performance management of the Principal.
- Agree the school’s improvement strategy, which includes setting statutory targets with supporting budges and staffing structures.
- Monitor and evaluate the work of the school by reviewing the performance of the Principal, the effectiveness of the policy framework, progress towards targets and the effectiveness of the school improvement strategy.
- Sign off the self-evaluation process and respond to Ofsted reports as necessary.
During 2020-21, we are focused on:
Chairs Development
Our Chair meets with other Chairs in The Spencer Academies Trust and provides a feedback report to the Directors of the Trust on the work of the LGB, including celebrations and challenges. This network provides the opportunity to find out what’s new and what the expectations are on Governors going forward – both from the Trust, Government and Ofsted. Our Chair has completed the Leadership Development Programme for Chairs.
Governor Training – Membership
The Trust has supported our school with memberships to the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Freedom and Autonomy for Schools – National Association (FASNA) networks to ensure that we are as up-to-date as possible with any changes in policy and/or legislation in school governance.
Clerking
Fiona Hubbard, our Clerk joined us in September 2019. Fiona has access to a range of Trust support as well as the Trust network of Clerks who meet regularly to share best practice.
Clereking Competency Framework
Introduced in April 2017 the new Clerking Competency Framework outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to provide a professional Clerking service to the Governors.
Four competency areas covered in the new Framework are:
- Understanding Governance
- Administration
- Advice and Guidance
- People and Relationships
The new Framework recognizes the value of professional quality clerks and realises they are critical to the effectiveness of a governing board in fulfilling its core strategic functions.
To read the full framework, please click here.
Documents
The new Framework recognises the value of professional quality clerks and realises they are critical to the effectiveness of a governing board in fulfilling its core strategic functions.